The Legend of Korra Finale.

[cypsiman2]

The short version: The finale was very disappointing and only becomes more so the more I think about it to the point that it retroactively sucks out the joy of the earlier episodes due to how it undermined what came before.

I remember arguing with people on a forum I frequent over whether or not Amon was some sort of bender or quasi-avatar or something like that and I was firmly against that, since Amon being anything other than a non-bender with a special power to take away bending would be much less interesting. So yeah, Amon turning out to be a super-duper-hyper-ultra blood bender was not something I liked seeing, because now it makes it look like all the ethical and social complexities that were being set up look completely meaningless. This for me is the biggest problem with the finale as it undermines the entire conflict of the story and leaves me with very little to engage with.

There's also of course the love triangle; I am not a fan of love triangles, but when they played the whole thing for laughs back in episode 5, I figured that they would handle it well. I was wrong, Mako became a tool and his apology to Asami near the start of the finale was, to use the word again, undermined by him going off to kiss Korra without a second thought or moment of consideration to Asami. Another major effect of the love triangle was that character focus and development was very poorly handled: Asami stagnated while Bolin was given nothing to do, and Mako and Korra's development was not well done at all, I never believed in their relationship much less became invested in it.

Also, what the hell was with Tenzin and his family being captured? What the hell was the point of Lin sacrificing herself to make sure they got away if they were going to be captured anyway? And off screen at that, that's just lazy. Oh, and when Asami, Bolin, and General Iroh were going to the airfield, why the hell did they fall for that obvious electrical trap? And really, how many goddamn toys can Hiroshi Sato have possibly created, I mean biplanes, seriously?

Not to mention the whole thing of Korra's spiritual journey consisting of her feeling a sad, Aang shows up to fix things, season's over.

I am cautiously optimistic that the next season will be better, that it will hopefully be able to address some of the problems I have with this finale, but I am not nearly so enthused as I was when the show first started.

Comments

[elle_white]

I hope that the next season can because I honestly feel betrayed by this series. So much wasted potential.

I actually denied the "Amon was a bender theory," because I thought it would undermine the plight of the non-benders.

And, oh god. I felt uncertain when they announced there would be a love triangle, because I normally dislike love triangles. But I thought I'd try to keep an open mind and see how they handled it. And it was terrible! It hampered character growth and was incredibly forced.

I just feel so bad about this show now. I had so many hopes for it! A:TLA had actual narrative and thematic coherence, and beautiful character development.

[anangelstears]

Are you me? This is about how I felt for a lot of it. I just... the triangle hit me hard, because it seriously took character development and threw it out the window. Asami ended up being my favorite, the poor gal. :(

[the-flowergirl.livejournal.com]

I still like the show. I'm excited for the next season, and I actually liked the finale. I think the major problem is a super short season. If they had a full 25 episodes like the had originally planned, it wouldn't seem like it was rushed.


But maybe I'm biased because I'm not heavily invested in fandom.

[dawnrune.livejournal.com]

Ehhhh. I pretty much disagree with most of this post, tbh.

As far as Amon goes, I have the complete opposite opinion. I think that him being a bender makes more sense than him being a non-bender who can randomly take bending away. If that were the actual case I would have found that pretty shitty. Also, just because he was a massive hypocrite doesn't make all of the equalists the same. Their leader lied to them, tugged on their heartstrings, used them, and just fucked everyone ever over in the end. And I was glad for it. That massive punch in the gut was what made him interesting.

Not to mention the whole thing of Korra's spiritual journey consisting of her feeling a sad

Sad? Just sad? I think that's WAY too much of an understatement. She basically had her entire identity ripped from her. Everything she had built in her life was destroyed in an instant. I think she was WAY more than just sad. And I think it makes sense that she had to give up one extreme to discover the other. They said in the beginning that she's a prodigy in physical bending, but her spiritual side was weak. Well. Once she lost the physical stuff, the spiritual was all that was left, and I think that's what saved her. It made sense to me.

The love-triangle from hell I can agree on, though. Because eww. I mean, yeah, I'm glad that Korra and Asami weren't at each other's throats over Mako, but that's the only thing I can appreciate about that whole debacle. Not to mention Mako didn't get shit in terms of character-development, IMO. He was basically treated like a trophy, except a really shitty one because he is just NOT a good boyfriend. Way to blow off Asami! Gonna do the same to Korra once the next hot thang comes along? Because that's kind of my impression. Really, Mike and Bryan's first two canon pairings I despise: Makorra and Masami. FUCKING EWW. So poorly handled, both of them. But I guess that's just shitty teen romance for ya. Maybe that's the genius behind it? IDK.